Great Physicists: The Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to HawkingHere is a lively history of modern physics, as seen through the lives of thirty men and women from the pantheon of physics. William H. Cropper vividly portrays the life and accomplishments of such giants as Galileo and Isaac Newton, Marie Curie and Ernest Rutherford, Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, right up to contemporary figures such as Richard Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann, and Stephen Hawking. We meet scientists--all geniuses--who could be gregarious, aloof, unpretentious, friendly, dogged, imperious, generous to colleagues or contentious rivals. As Cropper captures their personalities, he also offers vivid portraits of their great moments of discovery, their bitter feuds, their relations with family and friends, their religious beliefs and education. In addition, Cropper has grouped these biographies by discipline--mechanics, thermodynamics, particle physics, and others--each section beginning with a historical overview. Thus in the section on quantum mechanics, readers can see how the work of Max Planck influenced Niels Bohr, and how Bohr in turn influenced Werner Heisenberg. Our understanding of the physical world has increased dramatically in the last four centuries. With Great Physicists, readers can retrace the footsteps of the men and women who led the way. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 81
Page 15
... measurements of time he collected and weighed water flowing from a container at a constant rate of about three fluid ounces per second. He recorded weights of water in grains (1 ounce 480 grains), and defined his time unit, called a ...
... measurements of time he collected and weighed water flowing from a container at a constant rate of about three fluid ounces per second. He recorded weights of water in grains (1 ounce 480 grains), and defined his time unit, called a ...
Page 16
... theory depends on observations and measurements. Stillman Drake leaves us with this trenchant synopsis of Galileo's scientific contributions: “When Galileo was born, two thousand years of physics had not resulted 16 Great Physicists.
... theory depends on observations and measurements. Stillman Drake leaves us with this trenchant synopsis of Galileo's scientific contributions: “When Galileo was born, two thousand years of physics had not resulted 16 Great Physicists.
Page 17
... measurements of actual motions. It is a striking fact that the history of each science shows continuity back to its first use of measurement, before which it exhibits no ancestry but metaphysics. That explains why Galileo's science was ...
... measurements of actual motions. It is a striking fact that the history of each science shows continuity back to its first use of measurement, before which it exhibits no ancestry but metaphysics. That explains why Galileo's science was ...
Page 32
... measured as a volume, and “density” is the mass per unit volume (lead is more dense than water, and water more dense than air). Translated into algebraic language, the two definitions read m ρV, (12) and p mv, (13) in which mass is ...
... measured as a volume, and “density” is the mass per unit volume (lead is more dense than water, and water more dense than air). Translated into algebraic language, the two definitions read m ρV, (12) and p mv, (13) in which mass is ...
Page 52
... measurement like that of mass could be made for verification of the conservation property. This was a search for something that could not be fully defined until it was actually found. Voyage. of. Discovery. One of the first to penetrate ...
... measurement like that of mass could be made for verification of the conservation property. This was a search for something that could not be fully defined until it was actually found. Voyage. of. Discovery. One of the first to penetrate ...
Contents
41 | |
Historical Synopsis | 135 |
Historical Synopsis | 177 |
Historical Synopsis | 201 |
Historical Synopsis | 229 |
Historical Synopsis | 293 |
Historical Synopsis | 363 |
Historical Synopsis | 421 |
Chronology of the Main Events | 464 |
Glossary | 469 |
Invitation to More Reading | 478 |
Index | 485 |
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acceleration astronomer atomic became Berlin Bohr Bohr’s Boltzmann calculation called Cambridge Carnot’s Chandra charge chemical chemistry Clausius Clausius’s colleagues concept constant Curie Dirac discovery effect Einstein electric electromagnetic electron elements energy entropy experimental experiments Faraday Faraday’s Fermi Feynman field fission force function galaxy Galileo Gell-Mann Gibbs Gibbs energy Gibbs’s Glenlair Go¨ttingen gravitational Hahn Hawking heat engine Heisenberg Helmholtz Hubble Hubble’s hydrogen isospin Joule Joule’s laboratory later Laura Fermi lecture light Lise Meitner magnetic Marie mass mathematical mathematician matrix mechanics Maxwell Maxwell’s Mayer measured Meitner molecular molecules motion Nernst neutron Newton nuclear nucleus observed paper particles Pauli photons physicists Planck principle problem professor published quantum mechanics quantum number quantum theory quark radiation radioactive radium rays reaction Richard Feynman Rutherford Schro¨dinger scientific scientists speed statistical statistical mechanics temperature theoretical physics theorists thermodynamics Thomson tion University uranium wave writes wrote